“Where we turn in a certain direction out of love, stooping to be present, quieting to be available, there we are met by God’s prophets. Where we give up the edifices we have built, no matter how good they are, for the sake of peace, reconciliation, and compassion, there we have something to talk about with those who have gone before.”
“We often think of short as lacking something, as though Zaccheus’ lack of inches in height somehow reduced him. Shortages in our bank accounts make us anxious, while being short-changed, whether in money or goods, usually makes us angry.”
“‘You know,’ I replied,
‘I think I saw that lady too.
She was by the side of the road.
She was beautiful, but older now.
But she wasn’t cheering like everyone else.
She was crying. I didn’t understand.’”
“She searches for her own “tree with the lights in it,” what the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins described as “kingfishers catching fire,” to see beneath the recognition of objects as objects and instead to behold the spark within all creation.”
… let peace take root like the thistle
between the cracks in the sidewalk flags,
tenacious, impossible, lean, and fierce;
its bruised stalk you will not break,
nor extinguish the smoldering wick
of our sputtering prayers for peace
candles flickering in a hurricane.
“Look! In the eyes of your family
Listen to their stories
Feel their hands in yours
And open your arms for an embrace.”
“I am not just burning my mask however. I am using that as a symbol of transformation, a way to remind myself and those around me that the journey of Lent is preparing us for the beauty of Easter Sunday. So how will I accomplish this? This year, by creating artwork from the ashes.”
“I wish that throughout my middle years I had been more aware, so that I wasn’t now trucking pile after pile of things I don’t need to the dumpster and ultimately to the landfill. It’s sobering and embarrassing.”
“The Chinese martyrs were women doing what they were convinced God wanted them to do and, with strong faith, faced death without cringing or wavering. Most of us will never face such persecution or death for our beliefs. Still, Jesus won’t let us simply skate along, acting as part-time or even pretend-to-be-Christians.”
“Now, in reading today’s Gospel in commemoration of Martin Luther, one could easily fall into thinking that the “pruning” and “casting into the fire” that’s being referred to here is about tossing heretics and apostates into the flames of hell.”